LA_Drama Fan

It really amazes me that they can keep up the hits, episode after episode. I gotta believe that this is a lot more fun to write than what we all had to endure before, at least that's the impression I get - the writers are having a good time now.

It seemed to me that KS head was going to explode if he grinned any more. And that they're already holding hands the next day is a good sign! My favorite part was SS seeing the little hearts on the gimbap that he figured KS made for him, LOL! But if they're going to keep this on the down-low they need to stop grinning at each other like teenagers when he's at their house. I was a bit surprised at DH's rather low-key approval of the dating, though. He didn't seem that enthusiastic about it.

I'm guessing by the preview that JD will try to distract her grandma to buy time for KS/MR to look 'normal' before she spots them? Kiss by the end of the week? I'll put money on that!!!

This is why i support Aunty Ding. I feel sorry for her, being under that man's thumb most of her life. I still hope for her + DH. In a kooky way, they make a nice couple.

NO WAY! What a fast operator!!!!

Agree on CM/SJ being with the baby. They strike me as Godparents material, if such a thing exists in SK culture.

I think the thing for BN to withdraw from school so quickly also fits her embarrassment at her feelings for Mr Jang. She needed an excuse to get out of that mindset, and SJ brought that. So she grabbed it (for now, you know she'll be back).

Ep 40 – Whiplash

So everything is OK now, and we’re all happy, happy, happy. OK, whatever. I won’t beat the proverbial dead horse and repeat everything said here. I’m as astonished as any of you.

So, let’s just look at “memorable” moments (excluding the group hug scenes):

- DW/YM still clueless. So upon hearing the news her Mom left, YM rushes home. She is the only Gong kid to refer to InOk as her mother and as we saw in the episode where she returned from her US studies, she relates to InOk in a normal mother/daughter manner. I do understand now, why she sided with InOk when the chips were down and she turned on YD; I can’t be mad at her anymore, but that’s not the point. She entered Granny’s room and was shocked to see YD, much less that Haneul was there. Which tells us that she’s been isolated from the rest of the family as regards what is actually going on. Now we know that InOk has slapped an outright ban on any of them dealing with TK/YD and that the rest of the kids are afraid to mention them at the dinner table. But this tells us that her siblings won’t even pull her aside to tell her what’s really going on! Are they afraid that she’ll rat them out to InOk if they do, and thus she’s not trustworthy? I can’t think of any other reason, other than she has never really been friendly with any of the other siblings (other than TK). Evidently, all she knows is in general there is ‘trouble’ in the family without knowing the details and relating everything InOk is telling her to DW (“my sister in law is causing trouble”). This doesn’t excuse them from not finding out the truth about their families (DW drops her off at her house & SK would blab about it to her) but it is a weird family dynamic I never thought of with that bunch of awful people.
- Cobbled-together storyline. OK, everyone has their theory on how the heck this episode happened. I agree that much of this story would have been slated to air a couple of eps after InOk went nuts, before the time skip, which would make the hug-fest believable. But that didn’t happen. I have to believe that this episode was a rushed-together mess that was put together at the last minute in response to the overwhelming and world-wide negative reception that the InOk arc was getting. It lines up with when this ep was filmed (about 2 weeks ago) and allowing for a VERY short deadline to come up with a revised script that bares hallmarks of an unpolished product. To wit:
o No one knows how long InOk has been married. All along we’ve been told she married into the Gong’s 20 years ago (as of 2023 – actually now its 21 years since the show is occurring in July 2024 with the time skip). This was last confirmed by YM during one of her playground talks with SK. But in this episode 3 different marriage lengths are mentioned:
-InOk says (5 min mark) “how could they do this when they’ve known me for a decade…”
-Then at 7 minutes, again InOk: “I was forced to live that way in this house for 15 years”.
-Then at the 12 min mark, InOk again: “I’ve been a caring mother for 16 years”. -
-Finally, at 38 mins, CM confirms THAT date talking to JM “..For 16 years have you ever called her Mother or Mom before?”
o This tells me 2 things: The script was written by more than 1 person who didn’t do any due diligence in character reference and the script was rushed on air without anyone bothering to proof it. The lack of continuity in this episode is appalling.

- Their vacation house. I wouldn’t call it a home, as this was the most empty, sterile set I’ve yet seen on this show. And that interior matches their family perfectly: cold, spotless, lacking humanity. And FWIW, that place desperately needs an exterior pressure-washing.
- Tumor was a rumor. They’ve been setting up InOk all along with the classic K-drama brain tumor symptoms (irrational behavior, grogginess, headaches, dizziness, inability to concentrate, lack of appetite, etc). I really expected this weekend to feature the usual scenario: Collapse on the street/sidewalk, followed by awakening in the ER with her husband by her side and nurse recommending an immediate CT-scan/MRI. Now, if they had stuck with that, she’d be out of the storyline after brain surgery (if successful) for a while and not be around for the battle with JH, etc….unless they did a time skip for her, but that would make no sense because we’d miss the JH paternity stuff. So did they write themselves in a corner by waiting too long and just pretended all her symptoms were stress-related?
- There’s lot of other little things that made no sense: SK’s mom’s appearance (why?), the mysterious text to JH (great, just what we need – ANOTHER character), SeJin still employed at NX HQ, etc. And Hee's absence this weekend....is she done?

Well anyways, there you go. And we’re back to trying to explain and justify the inexplicable and nonsensical. Some things never change. Hopefully they actually do get their marriage registered and get a lawyer. Hope springs eternal with this show.

Thanks, Sher. I just don't trust him, and don't know what is more attractive to him: vengeance on KS or a pretty girl.

I'm posting in the blind here as I won't get to see anything for several hours today. But it occurred to me over the weekend: Since Little Dong now knows who YJ is, would that jerk use/abuse her as a way to get back at KS, who I presume he still resents/hates? Being treated badly by a man would fit YJs character history, I'm afraid.

Kathryn, I've never had luck with the REVIEWS part. With It's Beautiful Now, we ended up creating a Discussion for "discuss current episode" and posting reviews there. The only time I've been able to post a review is after the show ended. Not sure what up with that.

Yeah, in Engineering School this would be referred to as a 'kludge' - building something that never looked good or worked right out of parts that were never meant to be used together. I'll do a post about it later tonight or tomorrow, once I can wrap my head around how absurd this episode was. I guess we can now go back to not wincing every time we hear its intro music at broadcast start. thank goodness we have 5 days until the next episode.

Yep, that too.

I just watched it and my head is spinning. What on earth????
Shouldn't this have been Ep 35?or 36?
This felt like a cobbled-together mess that was rushed into production - for God's sake, can't they even hire a continuity person? It has all the signs of multiple people writing the script all at once.

I've got to try to think this one out before writing any more.

Good Gawd.

"Weird family" is putting it mildly. It was like some kind of demented Harry Potter thing. It amazes me that someone with that kind of imagination to come up with that, gave us this InOk arc.

I've not seen the subbed version yet, but here's the weird part:

She came running home when she got word that InOk ran away (we have to remember that she's the only Gong that actually treated her as her mother, so she'd be more inclined to side with InOk). When she entered Granny's room, she is shocked to see YD and HN. So in all this time, she's had no communication with her family about what has been going on with YD and/or TK? Do they not talk about anything with her? As inconceivable as that is, it would slightly explain how YM/DW have no real idea what is going on with her family as she's just not that connected with them.
Here I go again, trying to make some sense of and justify crappy writing.

I just rewatched that again. His very last glance, after he exhales, to me says "determination". He will see this through. (fingers crossed).

It's funny, KTL and well, YooNa & JunHo have so wiped out the concept of "chemistry" that everything else pales in comparison. I can't imagine any series ever coming close to that. Hoping for a season 2.

YD is so reserved, I just ONCE wanna see her LET GO.

Knee-jerk reaction to everyone's outrage? What are we supposed to think now? It was all a bad dream? WTF?????

I mean, thanks, we're all one big happy family now, and strawberry hunt begins, as does dealing with JH and youngest couple woes (if anyone cares), but to reverse course like this.........

I just like the expression on his face.

OMG. Sher, You won’t believe it. Lunkera I left you a question there.

Lunkera, do we know when this episode was filmed? I’m wondering if it was right after the furor when InOk changed back in Ep 31(?) and this was a frantic effort to fix things???
I’m sitting here in disbelief at these YouTube clips.